Jim Ballantine

Jim Jeffery Ballantine (November 6, 1967 – January 2002) was an American ice hockey center.Ballantine was born in Union Lake, Michigan. A graduate and hockey player for the University of Michigan, he started his professional career with the Columbus Chill in the ECHL. He also played for the Richmond Renegades (ECHL), Indianapolis Ice (IHL), and Dallas Freeze (CHL). He is most notable for being the first player to wear a 3-digit number in a professional sports game (101) to promote Columbus, Ohio radio station CD101. Ballantine was a regular on-air personality on the station. The jersey number selection began as a joke; but Ballantine shed his former number (19, in a nod to Detroit Red Wings longtime Captain Steve Yzerman). Ballantine died in 2002 from Lou Gherig's Disease (ALS